Snowball
by Lady Maestro
Summary: Sakura and Naruto skive off training to engage in a snowball fight that ends up in a direction that neither expected. Not that either of them were complaining. Fluff! One-shot. Naruto/Sakura


_A/N: Something a lot more light-hearted and fluffy from me this time round. This is a gift for shy-gurl914 on Tumblr as part of the NaruSaku Holiday Exchange. _

_It's set post-manga (or post-war, really) but I've kept the timeline vague on purpose. ;) I hope you guys like it and h__appy holidays to all! :D_

_Disclaimer: __Naruto and its characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own or claim ownership of any of the characters used in the story._

* * *

**Snowball**

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't think that Naruto and Sakura are actually training."

"Oh?" Kakashi peered out interestedly at Sai from over the top of his book. "What makes you say that?"

Sai frowned thoughtfully as he glanced at the direction where his two teammates had disappeared to when training started. Their area had remained completely peaceful throughout training – a most unusual situation considering Sakura's expertise.

"There haven't been any explosions at all," he pointed out.

Kakashi's visible eye creased as he smiled amusedly underneath his mask. Sparring with Sakura usually meant large clouds of smoke and dust, along with huge craters and broken or uprooted trees. Sai was right – Naruto and Sakura most certainly were not training.

In fact, he had a pretty good idea of what his cute students were up to. He had seen the way their eyes had lit up at the sight of the thick snow blanketing the place when Team Seven had first stepped into the training grounds that morning. They were the first team on site for the day too, which meant that the snow had been pure white and fresh.

He also hadn't missed the secretive grins the two had thrown each other or how they had instantly paired up as sparring partners the moment he had (purposely) given the team leave to choose.

He didn't actually mind. Perhaps the extra time alone together might even cause one of them to _finally_ make a move on the other. If that happened, Kakashi would consider the lack of actual training time well-spent.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured Sai vaguely, patting him on the shoulder. "They probably had some…things…to take care of."

And they better have because as entertaining as it was, Kakashi wasn't sure how much more he could take of their constant blushing around each other, not to mention the sappy looks they tossed at one another when they thought that the other wasn't looking.

"Things?" Sai asked, scrunching his nose in confusion.

"Well, let's just say that for our sakes, we might not want to disturb them," Kakashi told him meaningfully. "It would not be wise to provoke Sakura's wrath."

When the look of confusion on Sai's face grew even more pronounced, Kakashi sighed.

"Sai, you haven't read any of the _Icha Icha _books Naruto gave you, have you?" he guessed.

"No, I haven't," Sai confirmed. "Why?"

"Best read it soon," Kakashi advised him. "It'll give you a whole new insight to another aspect of human communication."

"Okay," Sai dragged out the word. Something behind Kakashi caught his eye and he frowned, causing the jounin to look over his shoulder. A group of familiar faces were approaching the grounds entrance and when they saw him, they lifted their arms to wave enthusiastically.

"It's the next team to use the grounds," Sai told him. "Our session's up. I guess I'll have to fetch the two of them anyway."

"No, not you," Kakashi shook his head as he lifted up a greeting hand in response to the newly-promoted chunin team. "Remember what I taught you about self-preservation."

He turned to Sai, a slow smile forming beneath his mask.

"I have another idea."

* * *

Sakura kept her movements silent but swift, careful not to let her boots crunch in the snow as she approached her target.

His back was wide open to her and he still hadn't noticed her presence as he remained crouched behind some bushes, staring out in the opposite direction. She kept a sharp eye out for traps despite that. When she found none, she grinned and reached into her pouch, pulling out a carefully packed snowball.

Naruto should never have agreed to the snowball fight she had suggested – no chakra or any other weapons besides the snow. The loser would owe the winner a favour. The blond was an excellent shinobi but ironically, one of his greatest weaknesses lay in the covert arts.

Not that she was complaining, of course.

Thanks to his preference for outright combat, she was leading in the fight with forty-nine hits on him versus his thirty-eight on her and with their training session nearly at the end, this was the perfect opportunity.

All she needed was one more hit to secure her win.

Sakura shifted into a comfortable stance, already tasting victory as she brought her arm up into position and drew it back.

"Naruto," she called out sweetly, grinning as the blond's back stiffened with shock. He tried to dart out of the way but she had already sent the snowball flying through the air. She watched eagerly as it hit him on the arm with a loud smack-

Naruto disappeared with a poof of smoke.

Mouth agape, Sakura stared at the spot where he had been, her arm still held up. Outrage filled her as she realised what happened.

"Why that little – _ack!_"

Someone had grabbed her wrist and Sakura suddenly found herself being spun around. She barely caught glimpse of twinkling blue eyes and an impish smile before something icy cold and wet was smashed against her face.

"_Naruto_!" she shrieked, reaching out blindly to grab at him. But the blond deftly danced out of her way with a merry laugh. She scrubbed at her face furiously, wiping off the snow. Her vision cleared to the sight of her teammate standing in front of her with an obnoxious grin that only widened when she glowered at him.

"Sakura-chan, your nose is all red," he observed mischievously, tapping his own to demonstrate. "Wait, it's your whole face now."

"Naruto," she began dangerously, stabbing an accusing finger at him. "You _cheated_."

"No, I didn't!"

"We agreed no chakra!" she snarled. "That means you cheated!"

"Well technically, I didn't cheat," Naruto shrugged and she disliked the gleam in his eyes. "You hit me just now – well, it was my clone but it was still me. That's fifty hits – that means that the fight's over and I can use chakra again!"

"You _still _used chakra," she gritted out through clenched teeth. "Your clone didn't count!"

"Details," Naruto dismissed casually and Sakura growled with displeasure. She swiftly reached into her pouch to pull out another snowball but Naruto had already anticipated her action. He dodged out of the way, barely missing the ball.

His subsequent laughter turned into a strangled yelp when Sakura leapt at him.

The force of her crashing against him sent him staggering and they went tumbling to the ground together. The snow cushioned their fall but they hardly noticed as they immediately began grappling with each other, struggling as they wrestled to gain the upper hand.

Naruto managed to pull off his gloves and he reached into her cloak, eyes gleaming with intent. Sakura's eyes widened when she realised what he was planning to do. She squirmed desperately but he had already started tickling her sides. She flailed around, gasping with breathless laughter. For a few seconds, she managed to focus enough to make a grab for Naruto's jacket, successfully catching his front.

She applied a bit of chakra into her fists as she forcefully pushed him onto his back and straddled him around his waist. Before he could fight her off, she seized handfuls of the snow by their sides, smashing it against every part of him she could reach. He thrashed around as she shoved some of it down his collar.

"_Argh_, Sakura-chan!"

He struggled underneath her, hands desperately pushing off the snow. Sakura grinned as she pushed aside his cloak and with an evil cackle, she unzipped his jacket to reveal his mesh undershirt. She pushed it up to expose bare skin and Naruto howled as she began dumping snow onto his torso, rubbing it in.

"How do you like that?" she panted breathlessly. "Consider it payback –_ah!_"

Naruto's hands suddenly shot up to grab at her wrists and the next thing Sakura knew, she was flat on her back with her arms pinned above her head. She wasted no time in trying to break free, squirming as she tried to free her wrists. He grunted above her, sounding as though he was in pain but she didn't relent.

"Sakura-chan, _stop_," he growled.

It was the strange hoarseness in his voice that gave her pause, and Sakura ceased her struggling immediately. Her eyes flew up to meet his and she almost stopped breathing at the intensity in his bright eyes as he looked down at her.

Awareness began to seep into her and Sakura finally realised just how intimate their current position was.

Her legs were still wrapped around him although they had fallen to rest snugly against his hips, crossing at the back and she could almost feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest against hers in a rhythm that echoed her own. The heat that suddenly swept through her body at their proximity was startling and her lips parted slightly she drew in a soft but sharp intake of breath.

At the small movement, Naruto's eyes briefly flickered down to her lips and when he looked back up, she could have sworn that the blue irises had darkened significantly.

"N-Naruto?" she whispered uncertainly, a blush settling against her cheeks. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest that she wondered if he could hear it.

He made no reply, but his eyes narrowed slightly as a frown crossed his face. For a moment, it seemed was as though he was debating with himself. But then the look was gone as quickly as it had come and she went completely still as slowly and hesitantly, he began to lower his head towards hers.

As he drew closer, Sakura's eyes fluttered shut and she found herself instinctively tilting her head up towards him-

"_Hah! I knew it!"_

Her eyes flew wide-open.

Blue orbs that mirrored the surprise she felt stared back at her for just a second before they both automatically turned their heads to the side.

Konohamaru stood a few feet away, pointing an accusing finger at them. The obnoxious grin on his face was uncannily like Naruto's.

"I knew it!" he shouted excitedly, waving his finger. "I _knew_ that you two had something going on! Hah! Take that, Ebisu-sensei!"

Letting out a squeak, Sakura immediately dropped her legs from Naruto's hips. His grip on her wrists had gone slack and she freed them to push him off, catching him unawares. He tumbled to her side with a pained grunt. Sakura didn't see him roll to rest on his front and bury his face into the snow with a muffled groan as she hurriedly sat up.

"This isn't what it looks like!" she cried out.

Konohamaru let out a snort of disbelief and he folded his arms.

"Sure," he said, dragging out the word. Sakura restrained herself from going over to punch him as his eyes travelled over them, taking in their dishevelled states before he looked back at her with a smug smirk. "Whatever you say, nee-chan. Seriously, it's not like the entire village didn't already suspect-"

"Konohamaru," Naruto growled, having lifted his head from the snow to glare at his protégé. Sakura buried her face against her hands with a humiliated groan. "What are you doing here?"

"Your teacher sent me to find you," he told them, eyes twinkling mischievously. "It's my team's turn to use the grounds. However," – here his grin turned sly – "I guess that I'll just tell them that you two need some more time alone."

"No!"

Sakura scrambled onto her feet, hurriedly smoothening down her clothes.

"We're going now," she huffed, quickly brushing her fingers through her damp hair. "We don't _need_ more time."

It was only after she had taken a few steps ahead that she realised that she was the only one moving. She paused, looking over her shoulder. Naruto hadn't moved from his position, although Konohamaru was now crouching beside him, poking his sides.

"Aren't you coming?" she called out, causing them to glance up at her.

"You go ahead first, Sakura-chan," Naruto told her, smiling wanly. "We'll be along shortly."

She frowned at him but he shook his head.

Shrugging, she faced the front again and resumed walking, her body stiff and rigid. It was only when she was a distance away that she relaxed her shoulders, bringing up her hands to cool her slightly heated cheeks.

"Damn you, Konohamaru," she cursed furiously, clenching her fist. "We were so close!"

If only that idiot hadn't interrupted, she and Naruto could have…could have-

Sakura moaned miserably, her face flaming as her traitorous mind instantly recalled the warmth and proximity of the blond along with the heat in his eyes just minutes before.

The urge to strangle the younger teen had never felt so strong.

Her footsteps became angry stomps, the snow crunching noisily beneath her boots as she pressed ahead. Her mind stubbornly refused to stop recalling what had happened when a thought suddenly occurred to her.

She didn't _have _to leave it like that.

Sakura ground to a halt.

It took her a moment before she sprang into action and when she did, she moved with instinct. Crouching down, she scooped up the snow into her hands, packing it into a large and compact snowball. When she was satisfied, she stood up and pivoted on her heel.

Naruto was on his feet now. Sakura was too far to hear what he was saying to Konohamaru, but judging from his large exaggerated gestures and the slight slump in the Konohamaru's shoulders, she knew that the younger teen was getting an earful.

They didn't notice her approaching them, nor did they see her stop just a few feet away, dropping into position as she brought her arm up once more. Sakura took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding with excitement again but she kept her expression carefully blank, steeling her nerves.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" she shouted out sternly.

Naruto stiffened with surprise.

As he began to turn towards her, Sakura drew back her arm and pelted the snowball hard and fast towards him. Naruto's face briefly registered surprise and panic before the snowball hit him square in the face. He staggered backwards from the force, his arms pin-wheeling ungracefully as he struggled to regain balance. He failed and went crashing butt-first onto the ground.

Sakura took her time as she sauntered towards them, resisting the urge to giggle. Konohamaru instantly backed away from her as she approached, his face terrified when she shot him a fleeting but deadly glare.

"Beat it," she ordered coolly as she brought her fist up meaningfully, cracking her knuckles. His eyes went wide and he nodded frantically, squeaking as he split the scene.

She stopped right in front of the blond, gazing down at him with her arms crossed. His nose was a bright red as he slowly rubbed the snow off his face, looking a little befuddled. She waited until some semblance of awareness returned to his eyes before speaking up.

"That was fifty hits – I _officially _win," Sakura declared, carefully keeping her expression neutral despite how nervous she felt. "You owe me a favour, Naruto. And I intend to collect it today."

He made to say something but she brought a finger up, silencing him. He watched her warily as he waited for her to continue.

"You," she continued sternly, "have to wear something nice this evening and show up at my door at seven sharp. We are going to have dinner out at a nice restaurant that _isn't _Ichiraku."

It took a moment for the penny to drop. When it did, the look of shock and disbelief on his face was priceless and Sakura had to bite back a smile.

"S-Sakura-chan, are you asking meout?" he stammered out, eyes wide with hope. "Like a date?"

"Maybe," she shrugged but the effect was ruined when she couldn't help the small blush that escaped or the slight twitch of her lips. At the sight, Naruto's face split into a wide knowing grin. Chagrined, Sakura cursed herself and immediately turned as she started stomping away once more.

"Wait, Sakura-chan! It _is _a date, right?"

She didn't stop as she looked back at him over her shoulder.

"You're paying!" she yelled in lieu of an answer and it was pure impulse that made her say what she did next. "And maybe…maybe after that we might even finish what we started here."

Her face was completely red once more when she turned back to face the front, but at the loud whoop of delight behind her, she finally allowed herself a victorious grin as she walked away with her head held up high.

* * *

_Reviews are love and would be appreciated! Thanks for reading!_


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